Florence, Canon City high school wrestlers must watch weight carefully during holidays

By BRANDON HOPPER hopperb@ canoncitydailyrecord.com

Posted:
01/09/2013 03:21:08 PM MST

Jacob Yslas and other local wrestlers much watch their weight carefully during the holiday season. (Jeff Shane/Daily Record)

Feasting is a big part of the Christmas holiday. People expect to take out their belts a few notches, maybe even break out the sweat pants to comfortably expand their stomachs.

It's certainly one of the better parts of the season for many people.

All the food and overindulgence makes wrestlers cringe, though.

"It's really tough to have all these eating holidays during wrestling season, we cross all the good ones," Tigers wrestling coach Duff Seaney said.

The season starts before Thanksgiving and lasts until late February.

Because wrestlers have strict weight guidelines, they're unable to eat like they sometimes wish they could. And if they do, then they've got to do some roadwork or hit a treadmill hard.

"It's insanely tough. There's not really anybody who is actually cutting weight who doesn't gorge at least once during break," Huskies 126-pounder Jacob Yslas said. "The kids that are serious about it go for runs every day. I went for quite a few runs over break to keep my weight a little stabilized."

Yslas weighed 132 going into the break, got up to 137 and now has to get back down to 128 in order to wrestle in the 126-pound weight class. The Colorado High School Activities Association allows wrestlers a two-pound growth allowance after Jan. 2 each year.

Huskies coach Bob Masse said his more experienced wrestlers know how to handle the eating holiday. It's his younger ones who he worries about.

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"It hurts the younger kids because they don't know how to do it just right yet," Masse said. "They get that extra two pounds. Instead of just putting it in their mind that they don't get those two pounds, they kind of indulge themselves a little too much."

The holiday is even tougher if you're cutting down a weight.

For the first time in his four years, Huskies wrestler Dillon Bellino actually lost weight during the break. Bellino, ranked third in 120-pound weight class in Tim Yount's On The Mat Rankings, is trimming down to 115 pounds to wrestle 113s.

"I knew I had to try to buckle down this year since I was dropping more weight," Bellino said, adding that it made it easier that his brother, Tanner, is also on the team and his father was a wrestler who understands his situation.

Tigers junior Caleb Coffey got up to 140 after the break, he said Monday, and since he's cutting to 132s, he has to lose four pounds by today.

Perhaps the wrestler with the easiest task are the heavyweights -- they can weight up to 285 pounds and most aren't near that. Tigers big man Stephen Bradshaw still watches what he eats, though.

"I can eat whatever I want, but I wouldn't be in good shape," Bradshaw said. "If you eat a lot of red meat, you gas out. You've just got to watch what you eat."

Bradshaw -- weighing in around 225 pounds -- gives up 40 pounds to nearly every person he goes against. To help him keep in shape during the break, the Tigers heavyweight doesn't drink soda and opts for veggies over things like mashed potatoes.

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